Applied DNA receives first International order for DNA Transfer System for Cotton

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. announced on January 31, 2018, that in response to an order from an international cotton gin, the Company will be installing its patent-pending SigNature® T DNA Transfer System at an off-shore gin. Recently, the Company has been fielding inquiries for DNA tagging of cotton from multiple foreign countries. For strategic reasons, the Company has decided not to reveal the customer and the location at this time. The SigNature T tagging system will be installed at the international gin this quarter in advance of orders for the Company’s molecular taggants

The benefit of the SigNature T DNA Transfer System is that it can be installed within the gin’s normal processes. The system provides over 60 data points per minute to the Company’s CertainT® IT platform to monitor, record and audit the quantity of tagged bales and the quality of tagged bales associated with each USDA (or other) bale identification number. The partners in the network use the data to manage tagged bale inventory, bale shipments and lab test results for samples.

Evidence obtained from quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) tests to date indicate that essentially every fibre that passes through the gin while the DNA Transfer System is operating is exposed to SigNature T DNA. Quantitative PCR, used for the Company’s SigNature® T, and our fibreTyping® and GeoTyping™ platforms allow the forensic detection of dilution of the original fibres at any point in the supply chain. The Company’s SigNify qPCR system enables testing on-site by trained, certified personnel.

“Verified cotton based on forensic science helps to establish provenance with certainty. The growers and ginners benefit directly by knowing that the cotton that is tagged, tested and tracked ends up in the finished goods that are sold in their home country. They can depend on a sustainable livelihood knowing that the brands and retailers behind the program are their champions, enabling for continuous planting of cotton, ginning and production for future generations,” said MeiLin Wan, Applied DNA VP, Textiles. “You don’t get to true sustainability without traceability on the fibre itself. We are seeing a shift from reliance on a paper trail that documents unverified fibre, to a new standard based on transparency from the fibre forward, linking all parts of the value chain with our information-rich molecular traceability system.”

The SigNature T system and supply chain protocols are designed to assure the purity and integrity of any cotton whose global source of origin leads to unique performance or claims. Countries with large cotton economies often want to market finished goods based on the use of cotton exclusively from the country. In the markets of the US, Egypt, Turkey, Peru, China, Australia and India, preference is often given to cotton grown in the home country. The maintenance of intact supply chains, with forensic proof of origin can lead to substantiation of ancillary claims such as sustainable sourcing or the exclusion of cotton fibres that may have been obtained with labor derived from human trafficking.

SigNature T preserves the integrity and purity of cotton fibre from source to shelf by enabling end-to-end traceability with forensic evidence. Over 100 million data points are being captured per season from the gins into the CertainT Textile Portal and over 3000 SigNature T tests have been conducted since 2015. Testing will increase consequent to the establishment of our lab in India. The gin data and reports are shared with the Company’s partners and customers, via the CertainT systems platform, configurable for third-party systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning or blockchain networks.

Applied DNA is a provider of molecular technologies that enable supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology, product genotyping and DNA mass production for diagnostics and therapeutics.

Applied DNA makes life real and safe by providing innovative, molecular-based technology solutions and services that can help protect products, brands, entire supply chains, and intellectual property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion. The proprietary DNA-based “CertainT®” platform can be used to identify, tag, test, and track products, to help assure authenticity, origin, traceability, sustainability and quality of products.

SigNature® DNA describes the core technology ingredient that is at the heart of a family of uncopiable, security and authentication solutions such as SigNature® T and fibreTyping®, targeted towards textiles and apparel, BackTrac® and DNAnet®, for anti-theft and loss prevention, and digitalDNA®, providing powerful track-and-trace. All provide a forensic chain of evidence, and can be used to prosecute perpetrators. Applied DNA Sciences is also engaged in the large-scale production of specific DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction.